Gold miner Metals Exploration closes a £90 million deal to acquire rival Condor

A gold miner, backed by Nick Candy, makes a deal to buy a rival for up to £90 million.

AIM-listed Metals Exploration has made an upfront offer worth £67.5 million, with a possible further £22.6 million in the future, to buy Condor Gold.

The announcement came after the Mail revealed yesterday that Metals – which is 38 percent owned by property magnate Candy – was prepared to respond with hostility to the offer.

But Jim Mellon, Condor’s non-executive chairman and one of Britain’s richest men, has made an irrevocable commitment to backing the deal. This means he would vote against any rival bid.

The deal will bring together two of Britain’s most colorful businessmen.

The 67-year-old Mellon, who has been described as the British Warren Buffett, owns 26 percent of Condor, which is listed on both the AIM and the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Candy, 51, is married to pop star and actor Holly Valance and made his fortune from luxury London developments.

Shares in Condor rose 19.79 per cent, or 4.75p, to 28.75p yesterday, but are still down by almost two-thirds in the past decade.

Metal shares, meanwhile, fell 8.8 percent, or 0.5p, to 5.2p.

“Metals clearly think they can get a bargain,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at broker AJ Bell.

The deal will see Metals make the additional payment if the amount of gold found in Condor’s mines exceeds estimates.

Metals operates in the Philippines and its shares have more than doubled in the past year.

Condor Gold is smaller and owns the 2.3 million ounce La India Project in Nicaragua. In 2022, it started looking for a buyer for this property for the first time.